Deaths, damage reported in powerful Afghanistan quake

A magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck southern Asia on Monday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

"Reports coming of damage and injuries in north eastern Afghanistan," Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive of Afghanistan, said in a tweet. "Disasters authorities to meet within the hour and respond to the needs."

The USGS issued an orange alert on the quake. "Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response," the USGS said.

7 photos: Quake strikes South Asia

Local news agencies quickly reported death tolls in the dozens.

Afghan broadcaster Tolo TV showed images of collapsed structures.

Twelve schoolgirls were killed in a stampede in northern Afghanistan as they tried to exit their school,police said.

The girls, between 10 and 15 years old, were crushed in their Taluqan city school's stairwell, between the first and second floors, said Abdul Khalil Asir, a spokesman for Takhar province police.

The epicenter was 45 kilometers (28 miles) south-southwest of Jarm, Afghanistan, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. CNN teams in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan all felt strong tremors. A USGS map showed that shaking traveled into Tajikistan as well.

The quake's epicenter was at a depth of 213.5 kilometers (132.7 miles). The USGS initially reported it as magnitude 7.7 and then revised it to 7.5.

Kabul: 'It was really bad'

"It was really bad," said Masoud Popalzai, CNN's producer in Kabul. "In 30 years of my life, it was the worst I experienced myself."

Everyone ran out into the streets. The walls of his compound shook so hard, they looked like they might fall over.

"In the bathroom everything swayed," he said. "Things fell to the ground in the office's kitchen."

But he has seen no signs of damage in Kabul, even after driving a few miles around the city.

Some 60 miles southwest of Kabul, in the town of Ghazni, there were reports that the historic gate had collapsed, accompanied by photos on social media.

Source: CNN